Treatment Options That May Help With Your Frozen Shoulder

Moist heat has been found very effective for frozen shoulder pain. Just take a heat pad and put a moist towel under it, and apply both to your shoulder.

Ice can help with frozen shoulder pain as well. To be the most effective, put your ice on for 10 minutes on your shoulder, and 10 minutes off. You can also alternate ice and moist heat.

Physical therapy has also helped with the pain of frozen shoulder. If you think this would help, ask your doctor to give you a referral for a good physical therapist.

Although anti-inflammatory medications haven't helped change the course of a frozen shoulder, they can give substantial relief from the painful symptoms.

Your doctor may suggest one or more cortisone injections. These injections can really help to decrease pain, and in also let you stretch more. This is very important, because it's usually only effective when used together with physical therapy.

If all else fails, a surgeon may perform what's called a manipulation. A manipulation is done with the patient sedated, and the doctor moves the arm to break up adhesions caused by frozen shoulder. There are no incisions made during the procedure.

This next set of tips will give you some great stretches and exercises that you can do to help relieve and treat your frozen shoulder.

This exercise you can do while standing or sitting. Hold a 5- to 10-pound weight in your hand (a gallon of water or milk weighs 8 pounds) and keep your arm vertical and close to your body. Swing your arm back and forth or in a small diameter circle.

For this exercise, put your arm onto a shelf or a dresser about breast high. Gently bend your knees, and open your arm pit. Try to push the arm up a little farther with each stretch.

For this exercise, take a bath towel and hold it with both hands at a 45 degree angle. Use your good arm to pull the towel toward your lower back. You can repeat this with your towel in a horizontal position.

To do this exercise, face a wall about 18 inches away. Using your fingers instead of your shoulder muscles, raise your arm up to shoulder level. Repeat this 5-10 times.

Grab a rubber band for these next few exercises. For this one, hold your elbows at 90 degrees, close to your sides. Grab the rubber band with both hands, and turn your forearms outward only two or three inches, holding for five seconds. Do this 5-10 times.

For this one, arms the same way as the previous exercise. Hook your rubber band onto a door handle and hold it with one hand. Turn your forearm inward two or three inches (like a door), and hold it for five seconds. Do this 3-5 times.

Here's another fun exercise you can do with a rubber band. Bend your elbow again, and place the rubber band on a door like before. Lift your arm up four or five inches away from the body (like lifting weights), holding for five seconds. Repeat this 3-5 times.

You can do this exercise while watching TV or sitting at a traffic light. Simply shrug your affected shoulder up and down slowly 5-10 times a day.

This is an exercise that you've probably done as a kid, but it can help with your frozen shoulder. Simply hold your arm out, and make circles with it. Take turns making small and large circles.

It's a bit unconventional, but some people find that leg stretches can really help with frozen shoulder. For this exercise, lay down on your back in front of a doorway. Put one leg up the wall and one leg out flat, with you arms resting at your side. This pose is good for stretching the hamstrings of one leg and the hip flexors of the other. Hold it for 2-5 minutes.

If you're having trouble sleeping at night, try using an extra pillow. Put the pillow under your affected shoulder, and sleep on your back or side.

Massage has helped many people with frozen shoulder. The muscles surrounding your frozen shoulder can become sore and tired. Massage can help alleviate these sore muscles.

Here are some supplements that have been known to help with frozen shoulder:

Glucosamine
Fish Oil
Honey Bee Venom

TENS stands for Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation. It's a good and safe way to help with pain and relax muscles. It works by stimulating the skin nerves, thus helps the brain to ignore incoming pain signals from the joint.

Trigger point therapy is a type of specialized self massage that weeds out and removes painful muscular contractions. It works by applying pressure to the contractions, either with your fingers or massage tools.

Yoga is for straightening out your whole body, and it can really help with frozen shoulder. If you want to try yoga, start out slow and easy. If it winds up causing you more pain, yoga probably isn't for you.

A common mistake of people with frozen shoulder is that they keep it still. This is not always the best thing to do. Gentle movement will help to keep the blood flowing to your shoulder.

If you don't have frozen shoulder but are worried about risk factors, the best way to prevent it is by doing daily stretches. Refer to the stretches and exercise section of this ebook for ideas.

Like every health condition or ailment, new research and studies are being done every day to better help you cope with frozen shoulder. Use the internet and any other sources available to you to inform yourself of new treatments.